When the government started looking into a potential expansion of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), it conducted a feasibility study to determine what would be the best approach for the expansion of the airport and how the taxpayer could get value for money.

However, in a shocking twist, the government went against the results of its own feasibility study and instead decided to take a proposal from Indian firm Adani Group’s Adani Airport Holdings.

The proposal by Adani has since left Kenyans in shock following the break neck speed within which it was silently pushed through critical evaluation stages.

It has emerged that the expansion route that had been recommended by the feasibility study which was initiated by the government could save taxpayers Sh. 27 billion over what Adani has proposed.

Hersi: Adani’s JKIA deal is bad. Get other investors, build new airport in Konza

This expansion route also proposed far more impactful investments at the airport in comparison to what the Adani Airport Holdings proposed. The government’s feasibility study was commissioned by the government through the Kenya Airports Authority and conducted by ALG, a Spanish firm that specializes in transport, infrastructure, and logistics.

Under the ALG feasibility study, an investment of Sh. 211 billion was proposed. This was cheaper than the Sh. 238 billion contained in the Adani proposal.

Whereas the ALG proposed for a public private partnership model involving a full airport or terminals, the proposed Adani model focuses on terminal management only.

The ALG went a step further and recommended the construction of a second runway by 2035. In contrast, Adani said that Kenya had no need for a second runway, and this could only be considered in the year 2054.

The ALG went ahead to recommend for a competitive bidding from investors to ensure that the JKIA got the best offers in the market owing to its strategic regional position.

However, the Adani proposed for a privately initiated proposal which was approved in a record seventeen days.

Shockingly, it has also emerged that contrary to the government’s assertion that the Adani proposal has been the only one on the table, the government received a second JKIA proposal in mid-June 2024 from a different company but for unclear reasons, chose to sit on that proposal.